Television ratings in Australia

This article is about measuring television viewership. For television content classification, see Television content rating systems § Australia.

Television ratings
in Australia
1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999
2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003
2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007
2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011
2012
Television in Australia

Television ratings in Australia are used to determine the size and composition of audiences across Australian broadcast and subscription television, primarily for the purpose of informing advertisers what programming is popular with the audience they are attempting to sell their product or service to.[1]

Ratings are monitored year-round, however viewership figures are only officially counted for 40 weeks during the year, excluding a two-week break during Easter and ten weeks over summer. Thus, the majority of locally produced programming and popular international shows on commercial networks are shown during the ratings period.[2][3]

A 2016 report found that commercial television in Australia reaches 85.1% of the population aged over 13 years old, however that was down from 93.1% in 2008, with viewership decreasing fastest in viewers aged under 50. The decline in free-to-air television audiences of recent years has been attributed to a tougher and more competitive environment brought about by video on demand and streaming services.[4]

History

Until 1991, AGB McNair provided television ratings data, covering only homes in Sydney and Melbourne. From 1991 until 2000, 'Nielsen Media Research Australia' was the company that measured television ratings, introducting People meters for the first time. From 2001 onwards, OzTAM and Regional TAM took over.[5] OzTAM is wholly owned by the three commercial broadcasters (Seven Network, Nine Network and Network Ten), while Regional TAM is owned by a number of regional broadcasters, however both operate independently.[6][7]

In total, OzTAM measures ratings from 3,500 homes, with 950 homes in Sydney, 900 in Melbourne, 650 in Brisbane and 500 each in Adelaide and Perth, with these ratings commonly referred to as 'five city metro ratings'.[8] A further 2,000 homes outside these five cities are measured by Regional TAM, and an additional 1,200 homes monitor viewing of subscription television in Australia.[2][9] Nielsen are contracted to provide the audience measurement services to both OzTAM and Regional TAM[8] having previously operated their own measurement service.[10] In 2017, the metropolitan homes measured will increase to 5,250.[11]

From 27 December 2009, OzTAM and Regional TAM introduced time shift ratings, measuring viewers who watch a program within seven days of its first broadcast.[12] Ratings reports were subsequently broken out into two parts:

In October 2014, Australia became the third country to introduce Nielsen Twitter TV ratings, measuring reach and activity of television related discussions on the social media platform.[13]

From 3 April 2016, OzTAM began releasing timeshift viewing data for programs watched up to 28 days after broadcast, noting that genres such as dramas, mini-series and films could add up to 20% of their audience with the new data, even though viewing between 8 and 28 days after initial broadcast accounted for only 1.8% of total television viewing.[14]

Measurements

In Australian media, the most common ratings metric reported publicly is total viewers of a program from all age groups. However, advertisers typically prefer the viewership of demographic ranges based on the type of viewers they are seeking to promote their product to.[15] The three common aged-based demographic groups, known as the 'key demographics,' include people aged 16 to 39, 18 to 49 and 25 to 54.[16][17]

In advertising and media, the reporting of ratings has historically been confined to what is known as '5 city metro,' which only includes viewership of the OzTAM panels in the five largest cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth).[18] Since the 2010s, it has become more common for television networks to publicly spruik 'national ratings' which combine the 5 city metro audience with ratings from Regional TAM.[19]

Ratings performance

Up until the mid 2000s, the Nine Network had generally been the ratings leader in Australia, typically followed by the Seven Network and Network Ten respectively. While Network Ten generally rates lower in total viewers, it has traditionally been the market leader for younger viewers.[16] The two national broadcasters ABC TV and SBS One typically attract fewer viewers than the three commercial networks due to their various public service obligations.[20]

In 2007, for the first time since 2000, the Seven Network overtook its rival Nine Network in terms of average viewers[21] and have remained ahead of Nine and Ten every year since. In 2011, for the first time since OzTAM began, the Seven Network won all forty weeks of the official ratings period.[22]

As of 2016, FOX8 is the most viewed subscription channel on the Foxtel platform.[23]

Top-rated programs

The highest rated programs on Australian television typically include sporting events, reality shows and locally produced scripted programs.[24][25]

Year Program Network Rating Ref
2015 2015 AFL Grand Final Seven 2.64 million [26]
2014 2014 AFL Grand Final Seven 2.82 million [27]
2013 My Kitchen Rules Seven 3.27 million [28]
2012 The Voice Nine 3.33 million [29]
2011 The Block Nine 3.37 million [30]
2010 MasterChef Australia Ten 4.03 million [31]
2009 MasterChef Australia Ten 3.72 million [32]
2008 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony Seven 2.82 million [33][24]
2007 2007 AFL Grand Final Ten 2.56 million [24]
2006 2006 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony Nine 3.56 million [24]
2005 2005 Australian Open – Men's Singles final Seven 4.04 million [24]
2004 Australian Idol Ten 3.34 million [24]
2003 2003 Rugby World Cup Final Seven 4.02 million [24]
2002 Test Australia: The National IQ Test Nine 2.78 million [24]
2001 2001 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles Nine 3.04 million [24]

Yearly shares

The following table lists the average shares for the survey period of the calendar year, for total viewers in the 5 metropolitan cities during primetime between 6pm and midnight. Prior to 2010, shares were not broken out into a network's different multi-channels.

Network 2008 [34] 2009 [35] 2010 [36] 2012 [37] 2014 [38]
ABC N/A N/A 11.9% 10.3% 10.4%
ABC2 N/A N/A 1.3% 2.1% 2.2%
ABC ME N/A N/A 0.4% 0.6% 0.7%
ABC News 24 N/A N/A 0.2% 0.7% 0.9%
ABC channels 14.2% 14.0% 13.8% 13.7% 14.2%
Channel Seven N/A N/A 20.2% 18.6% 17.8%
7Two N/A N/A 2.8% 3.4% 3.7%
7mate N/A N/A 0.5% 2.7% 3.3%
7flix N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Seven Network 24.2% 23.0% 23.5% 24.7% 24.8%
Channel Nine N/A N/A 19.2% 17.7% 17.3%
9Go! N/A N/A 3.1% 3.1% 3.8%
9Gem N/A N/A 0.3% 2.1% 2.7%
9Life N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Nine Network 21.9% 21.9% 22.7% 22.9% 23.8%
Channel Ten N/A N/A 16.2% 10.5% 9.7%
One N/A N/A 1.1% 2.0% 2.4%
Eleven N/A N/A N/A 2.5% 2.4%
Network Ten 17.0% 18.4% 17.3% 15.1% 14.6%
SBS N/A N/A 4.1% 3.7% 3.4%
SBS2 N/A N/A 0.5% 0.7% 0.7%
NITV N/A N/A N/A 0.0% 0.1%
SBS Food Network N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
SBS channels 4.6% 4.8% 4.6% 4.4% 4.2%
Subscription
channels 		15.5% 15.9% 15.5% 16.9% 16.1%

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About Ratings". ThinkTV. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  2. 1 2 Walters, Conrad (23 April 2011). "Made to measure but can we trust TV ratings?". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  3. ↑ "Explaining TV's non-rating period". Crikey. 11 January 2005. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "1 in 7 Australians now watch no Commercial TV, nearly half of all broadcasting reaches people 50+, and those with SVOD watch 30 minutes less a day". Roy Morgan Research. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "In the archive - About the archived ratings data". Screen Australia. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  6. ↑ Knox, David (22 November 2013). "How robust is our Ratings system?". TV Tonight. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  7. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions". OzTAM. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  8. 1 2 "OzTAM extends long-term agreement with Nielsen" (PDF). OzTAM. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "Latest Available reports". OzTAM. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  10. ↑ "Regional Television Diary". Nielsen Media Research. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-04-14. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
  11. ↑ Knox, David (20 July 2016). "OzTAM to increase homes with people meters". TV Tonight. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  12. ↑ "Consolidated ratings FAQ". Think TV. Archived from the original on 3 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  13. ↑ Knox, David (17 November 2014). "Sport, Reality top first Twitter TV Ratings". TV Tonight. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  14. ↑ Hickman, Arvind (30 March 2016). "OzTam to release 28-day time shift audience data". Ad News. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  15. ↑ Knox, David (12 November 2008). "Total People v Demographics". TV Tonight.
  16. 1 2 "The perfect TV age". The Age. 10 March 2005. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  17. ↑ Lallo, Michael (20 February 2016). "TV battles of 2016: Nine recruits key demographics, marches on Seven stronghold". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  18. ↑ "About Ratings". Think TV. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  19. ↑ Knox, David (12 July 2013). "Should ratings rule be national not metro?". TV Tonight. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  20. ↑ Warneke, Ross (2 December 2004). "Nine wins year again". The Age.
  21. ↑ "Nine scores ratings goal on back of league draw". The Age. AsiaMedia. 2007-05-29. Archived from the original on 12 March 2008. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  22. ↑ "40 weeks makes a clean sweep for Seven". TV Tonight. 2011-11-27. Retrieved 2011-12-25.
  23. ↑ "Temperatures are rising on FOX8 this summer!". MultiChannelNetwork. 5 September 2016. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Top 20 programs shown on television, 1998–2009". Screen Australia. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  25. ↑ Duck, Siohban (19 November 2012). "Sport and reality shows big hits in TV ratings". news.com.au. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  26. ↑ Knox, David (30 November 2015). "2015 ratings: Seven wins Total People, Nine tops Demos, TEN rises". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  27. ↑ Knox, David (1 December 2013). "2014 Ratings: Seven wins Total People, Nine scores demos.". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  28. ↑ Knox, David (1 December 2013). "2014 Ratings: Seven wins Total People, Nine scores demos.". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  29. ↑ Knox, David (4 December 2012). "2012 Ratings: Seven wins Total People, Nine wins Demos.". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  30. ↑ Ma, Wenlei (28 November 2011). "The Block most watched in 2011". Ad News. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  31. ↑ Knox, David (29 November 2010). "2010 Ratings winners". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  32. ↑ Knox, David (6 December 2009). "2009: The Top 100". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  33. ↑ Knox, David (30 November 2008). "2008: The Top 200". TV Tonight. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  34. ↑ 2008. Metropolitan TV Share of All Viewing - All Homes (D1) - 5 City Share Report. Oztam. Retrieved on 31 March 2012.
  35. ↑ 2009. Metropolitan TV Share of All Viewing - All Homes (D1) - 5 City Share Report. Oztam. Retrieved on 31 March 2012.
  36. ↑ 2010. Metropolitan TV Share of All Viewing - All Homes (D1) - 5 City Share Report. Oztam. Retrieved on 31 March 2012.
  37. ↑ 2012. Metropolitan TV Share of All Viewing - All Homes (D1) - 5 City Share Report. Oztam. Retrieved on 17 October 2016.
  38. ↑ 2014. Metropolitan TV Share of All Viewing - All Homes (D1) - 5 City Share Report. Oztam. Retrieved on 6 November 2015.
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